First, let the children know that if they are following directions, singing their best, and paying attention they will have the opportunity of choosing something fun for their teacher to wear during singing time, but you will be looking for an entire class that is participating well. To empower the teachers, you let them know that they will be the ones choosing which child gets to pick the item they will wear from their class.
Sing the song through once looking for an outstanding class. Have their teacher choose a child to come and pick an item out of the basket, bucket, bag (whatever you decide to use to hold items).
After the first time a child picks something, and the teacher puts it on, all the classes will be paying attention because they want to have a chance to 'dress up' their teacher.
Look at the good sports from Paradise Hills Ward. The kids sang their little hearts out to get them to look like this. This was Junior Primary teachers and below was Senior Primary teachers. Talk about dedication to our calling!
A note about behavior management:
This activity has the potential to get silly and loud unless you set the stage beforehand. Let children know that you are going to do a fun activity and they may want to giggle, but they are only allowed a three inch giggle. Practice how loud they can giggle before you even begin. If they giggle too loud, stop and remind them and practice a three inch giggle again. I usually put my hand in front of my mouth about three inches away and demonstrate how loud a three inch giggle sounds.
Below is a picture of items collected that I used for this singing time activity. I almost always do it around Halloween because it seems to lend itself to dress up and costumes, but I usually do it a couple others times throughout the year because it is soooo much fun. Whenever you see an inexpensive and appropriate dress up item, grab it, and put it away to use with this activity.
